FAYETTEVILLE — KJ Jefferson looked to have pain in his ribs in the first half after a crunching hit from linebacker Ivan Pace and maybe cramping issues in the third quarter on a couple of errant throws in the red zone.
But when game-winning time arrived, Jefferson was present and powerful for the No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks in their 31-24 season-opening win over No. 23 Cincinnati on Saturday.
Jefferson passed for 223 yards on 69% completions for a 179.4 efficiency rating and ran for 62 yards and a touchdown to spur the University of Arkansas’ first top 25 season-opening win since 1974.
Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell was honestly surprised Jefferson ran as often as he did.
“I didn’t think he was going to run the ball as much as he did,” Fickell said. “I thought they were going to have him slinging the ball more this year. He is a really good football player.”
Jefferson ran five times for 21 yards in the final 5:49 as Arkansas converted three first downs and stayed on the field to end the game.
ESPN analyst Rod Gilmore delivered a prescient line regarding Jefferson a little earlier.
“You get the sense KJ Jefferson wants to take over the game,” Gilmore said late in the third quarter.
Jefferson ran for 14 yards on a third and 9 keeper over the right side on the first set of downs after Cincinnati pulled within 31-24. Linebacker Wilson Huber grabbed Jefferson’s arm in the backfield, safety Bryon Threats missed an ankle tackle four yards shy of the first down marker and Jefferson juked Pace as scurried out of bounds.
“They had him dead to rights and he pshhew! first down,” Coach Sam Pittman said.
He helped ice the game with a 6-yard run on third and 2 from the Hogs’ 48, running behind center Ricky Stromberg and right guard Beaux Limmer.
“That’s the main thing, to get first downs,” Jefferson said of the game-ending drive. “Their coach called a timeout, so just try to hurry up and burn their timeouts so we just win the game.”
Said Cincinnati defensive end Jabari Taylor of defending Jefferson: “It is tough man. You watch so much film, but you have to respect that it’s not always like that. He makes things happen. When you’re out there you feel the difference. Respect to him.”
Injury updates
Coach Sam Pittman provided no concrete updates on injured defensive backs Myles Slusher and Jalen Catalon on Saturday night.
Slusher left the field with his right arm and shoulder being held by training staff after crashing into 6-5, 255-pound tight end Leonard Taylor on a 1-yard loss with 3:21 left in the second quarter. He was replaced by Jayden Johnson and Trent Gordon the rest of the game.
Catalon appeared to injure his right shoulder while trying to tackle quarterback Ben Bryant in the backfield early in the third quarter. The play did not appear to feature hard contact. Catalon came back after a period of tests and observation in the training room with ice on his right shoulder but he later removed it.
“I was nervous about him there for a minute,” Pittman said of Slusher being down for a while. “But he’s going to be fine, just wasn’t able to come back today. I don’t know about Catalon, to be honest with you. I really don’t.”
Latavious Brini replaced Catalon to join safety Simeon Blair.
“To us it was just next man up,” Blair said of losing Catalon. “I mean, we do a lot of rotating, so I might be in there with Brini in practice all the time. It’s not nothing new to me to play with Brini.
“It was nothing new to me to play with Jayden Johnson at nickel. I feel like [defensive coordinator Barry] Odom trains us for this. He cross trains a lot of different positions just in case we do get hurt like that. I feel like we were very prepared for that.”
Playoffs?
SI.com’s Pat Forde is high on the Hogs. In his Sunday opinion piece, Forde projected Arkansas in the four-team College Football Playoff, with the caveat: “We are starting from scratch, throwing out preseason expectations. So if your favorite team hasn’t played anybody yet, it won’t be ranked. (This means you, Alabama.)”
Forde projected Arkansas as the 4 seed vs. 1 seed Georgia in the Peach Bowl and 2 seed Ohio State vs. 3 seed Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. Of course those positions are very unlikely to hold because Florida and Georgia will play an SEC East game this season.
Block assists
Tight end Trey Knox provided the springing block on KJ Jefferson’s 15-yard touchdown run over the left edge to open the scoring. Knox blocked safety Byron Threats at the 15-yard line, then receiver Matt Landers pancaked corner Ja’quan Sheppard at the 6 to clear Jefferson’s path.
On Rocket Sanders’ 37-yard run late in the first half, right tackle Dalton Wagner pancaked defensive end Jabari Taylor, Knox gave a good screen block on the edge and Jadon Haselwood locked up corner Taj Ward to free Sanders’ dash to the 5.
On Knox’s 32-yard catch-and-run touchdown on a check-down route, Ketron Jackson Jr. pushed Sheppard just enough on the edge to allow Knox to sprint past on the right sideline.
Helmets out
Cincinnati players had their helmets come off numerous times throughout the game, including quarterback Ben Bryant, who had to miss the first play of the fourth quarter, and cornerback Ja’quan Sheppard, who lost his twice, once after sacking KJ Jefferson at the Arkansas 2.
“It’s an issue that we have to figure out,” Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell said. “We lost Ben for a play there. In a critical game, it’s a factor.”
“Seven, eight, nine guys lost their helmet today,” ESPN analyst Rod Gilmore said after defensive end Jabari Taylor lost his on Rashod Dubinion’s game-clinching 11-yard run late in the game, with play-by-play man Dave Flemming adding “I think more.”
Said Gilmore. “I would just lump them in with the penalties because it’s just that undisciplined thing that kind of hurt Cincinnati all game long. Especially in the second half.”
Bearcats safety Byron Threats lost his helmet on the final play of the game, leading to a 10-second runoff that helped kill the clock.
Ex-teammates
Arkansas cornerback Dwight McGlothern and defensive end Landon Jackson and Cincinnati tailback Corey Kiner — all former teammates at LSU — posed for a group photo after the game.
“Felt good playing on the field again just like old times,” McGlothern wrote on a Twitter post.
“Brothas 4L [for life],” Jackson replied. “Great to be on the field again, and getting to play in front of the best fan base in the country!!”
All three players had a major impact on the game. McGlothern’s 51-yard interception return set up the first touchdown of the game. Jackson was in on a combo sack with Zach Williams.
Limited returns
Cincinnati made the most of its three returns, as Tre Tucker brought back one kickoff 29 yards from the goal line and had punt returns of 30 and 7 yards.
Arkansas had one kickoff return. AJ Green returned a kick from about a yard deep in the end zone, was hit on the 11 and tackled on the 16. Meanwhile, Sam Mbake was flagged for holding on the play, sending the Hogs back to their own 8. That sequence set up KJ Jefferson’s lost fumble, which was recovered by Cincinnati on the Arkansas 3, leading to a short field goal.
The Razorbacks’ lone punt return was for 3 yards by Bryce Stephens in the first half.
Loud crowd
Coach Sam Pittman essentially presaged one of the game’s defining moments, when the Razorback Stadium crowd assisted in Cincinnati penalties that limited the Bearcats to a 26-yard field goal after they took over at the Arkansas 3 following a KJ Jefferson fumble in the third quarter.
Speaking at the Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club luncheon, Pittman said, “Cincinnati is going to have a new quarterback. We need to get in here where he can’t hear nothing. That’s what we need to happen.
“If that happens, you’re going to shake him up a little bit. If you shake him a little bit, before you know it we’re up, and hopefully they can’t catch us.”
Cincinnati incurred a false start, an illegal formation and two delay of game penalties after the takeaway.
“That was the crowd,” Pittman said. “Ten of those yards was Razorback nation, so we thank them for that. We stopped them down there.”
Shutout half
The Razorbacks’ first half shutout was their first since leading Arkansas-Pine Bluff 45-0 at the break last Oct. 23 in Little Rock, which eventually was a 45-3 win over the Golden Lions.
The last time Cincinnati was shut out in the first half came on Nov. 16, 2019, against South Florida in a game the Bearcats won 20-17.
The last time Arkansas shut out an FBS opponent in the first half was against then-No. 15 Texas last season. The Razorbacks led 16-0 at the break and won 40-21.
Extra points
• Trey Knox’s two touchdowns vs. Cincinnati was half of his career total entering the game. The senior had three scores as a freshman and one as a junior.
• Dwight McGlothern’s 51-yard interception return was the longest since Greg Brooks Jr.’s 69-yard return for a touchdown in Week 2 of 2020.
• Jordan Domineck recorded the seventh forced fumble of his career, his first as a Razorback, on his fourth quarter strip sack of Ben Bryant.
• Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool had his 18th career game with 10-plus tackles.
• Arkansas safety Simeon Blair notched a career-high 7 tackles.